Romney endorses Rep. Steve King

It doesn’t appear that Mitt Romney is going to make a play for independent voters any time soon. The GOP nominee gave a ringing endorsement of Republican Congressman Steve King during a speech in Orange City, Iowa.

Romney, possibly the next president of the United States, wants Steve King as his partner in Washington. Not Stephen King, but Steve King — a hardline conservative who once suggested that U.S. immigration policy should be more like picking dogs out of a litter. A man who just last month defended Todd Akin’s assertion that the female body had ways of staving off pregnancy during rape. The Iowa congressman also has the distinction of saying this: “The argument that diversity is our strength has really never been backed up by logic.”

Apparently the feeling is mutual because when King took the stage he praised his party’s nominee by saying, “Don’t doubt this man’s faith. Don’t doubt his convictions.” Speaking to one of the most conservative communities in the Hawkeye State, King added, “Do not doubt his patriotism or his faith and his love for Jesus Christ our savior.”

Although both Romney’s and King’s remarks received the approval of the 2,600 people they were speaking to, the Obama campaign immediately issued its disapproval. Spokeswoman Lis Smith responded, “And, if his speech today praising Rep. Steve King — who has questioned whether women get pregnant from rape and incest and said hateful things about immigrants — is any indication, we know he wouldn’t stand up to the most strident voices in his party.”

Romney’s support of the Congressman arrived one day after the Democratic National Convention where he was attacked as being weak and out of touch with the American people.